Onvida Health expanding its commitment to the veteran community in Yuma community through a new partnership with the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System.
Ground was broken in January on the Yuma VA Outpatient Clinic, a 30,000-square-foot, free-standing facility that will be located at Onvida Health Foothills Medical Plaza, 11300 S. Frontage Road. The clinic is expected to open in summer 2027.
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For a community with one of the region’s highest veteran populations, the project represents more than new construction. It addresses a longstanding gap in care.
“We are an active military community,” said Jake Childs, Onvida Health president of hospital operations and chief operating officer.
“While basic primary care has been available locally, many veterans and retirees under the VA’s care frequently have to travel to Tucson or even San Diego for specialty services.”
The new clinic will offer primary care along with expanded services including physical and occupational therapy, lab and imaging, optometry, audiology and women’s health. The services are designed to meet the complex and sometimes service-related health needs of veterans.
“This partnership gives us the opportunity to care for those who protected our country while expanding services tailored to the unique needs we often see as a result of military service,” said Dr. Robert Trenschel, president and CEO of Onvida Health. “Building this facility with the VA is not only necessary, it is truly an honor.”
Maria Nguyen, interim chief executive officer and director of the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System, said the project grew out of a “strong and ongoing academic affiliation” between the VA and Onvida Health. That collaboration also extends to Onvida’s Family and Community Medicine Residency Program, where medical residents will help provide care to veterans while gaining valuable training experience.
The existing Yuma VA Clinic, located on South Fourth Avenue in the Big Curve Shopping Center, has served local veterans since 2012. The new facility marks a significant expansion of that footprint.
Bringing the project to life required persistence. Onvida Health is financing construction and will establish a long-term lease agreement with the VA. Federal budget constraints and the need for approval from Washington, D.C., slowed the process, leadership said.
“It was quite a difficult piece to navigate,” Childs said.
Although the VA supported the project, final approval had to move through multiple federal channels,” Childs added.
“A lot of those pieces impacted the start of the project. Now we’re fully under contract, we have a contractor and construction is full steam ahead.”
Salt Lake City-based Jacobsen Construction, operating out of its Phoenix office, is leading the build. The firm has extensive experience constructing VA facilities, which Childs said adds confidence as the project moves forward.
The VA clinic is one of four major growth initiatives underway for Onvida Health. The nonprofit system is also developing a $124 million hospital to serve residents in San Luis and Somerton, and a $39.7 million Health Career Center in partnership with Arizona Western College.
The center will feature training labs for phlebotomy, occupational health and medical simulation, helping build a local pipeline of healthcare workers.
“Medical residents can train right here, next to the healthcare hub in the area,” Childs said. He added that while Onvida hopes many trainees will remain in Yuma, “they can take those skills and go work anywhere.”
In partnership with the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix, Onvida is also helping bring Yuma’s first medical school program to the region, an effort aimed at addressing physician shortages in rural Arizona.
“We’re really excited about the four largest projects related to growth,” Childs said. “The VA project is one of the biggest we have right now. It’s really an exciting time to be in Yuma.”
Onvida Health, a nonprofit system serving Yuma County and southwestern Arizona, includes two hospitals, 430 inpatient beds, 45 outpatient clinics and a free-standing emergency department. Its team consists of 495 providers across 52 specialties and approximately 4,000 employees.
The Southern Arizona VA Health Care System serves more than 170,000 veterans across eight counties, with its main campus in Tucson and community-based outpatient clinics throughout the region, including Yuma.
